Police Chief Edward Walsh says if there are plans afoot to get rid of the so-called police traffic island downtown at Main and Weir streets then he at least wants to be kept in the loop.

Walsh has submitted a letter to the City Council this week stating his concern that “there may be some action ongoing relative to elimination or restructuring” of the island that faces Taunton Green.

“We just want to be part of the process,” Walsh said Monday afternoon, as he wrote parking violation tickets along Taunton Green.

Walsh said the island — a sectional wedge of pavement on which a “Welcome to Taunton” wooden sign sits and has a space behind it for police cruisers to park — is invaluable in terms of monitoring traffic, and because “it gives us (police) a visible presence downtown.”

He said he sent a letter to the council in anticipation of any alteration, because he assumes it is within that governing body’s power to approve or disapprove such a measure.

Walsh said he’d been told that “several plans” either to restructure or eliminate the island have been discussed, but he said he wasn’t certain as to which local organization or group have been behind any such proposal.

Taunton Redevelopment Authority chairman Ronald Swartz said his group had never discussed the issue.

“It’s the first I’ve heard of it. I’m really surprised,” Swartz said.

Teri Bernert, manager of the city’s Business Improvement District, said she and members of her board have discussed ways to improve the overall appearance of the island area, but have never suggested eliminating it altogether.

Specifically, she said, discussion has focused on redesigning the existing wooden welcome sign.

“It’s part of our beautification project,” Bernert said.

The BID consists of a collective of property owners who pay an annual surcharge, based on their property’s assessed value, in order to clean up and improve the downtown district.

Any potential changes and design costs, Bernert said, will be subject to review by “city officials and all department heads.”